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THE 



HOLY SPIEIT RESISTED. 



BY CALEB KIMBALL, 



AND ' THE YOUNG CHRISTIAN DIRECTED.' 



But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit ; therefore he waa 
turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. — Isa. 63 t 10. 



THIRD EDITION, 

. 






N 






- 



BOSTON : 

BENJAMIN PERKINS & CO, 

No. 100 Washington Street, 

1846. 







OF CoN< 



WASHINGTON 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, 

By Caleb Kimball, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of 
Massachusetts. 



; 






PREFACE. 



These pages are offered to the public, in the 
hope that the remarks and facts which they con- 
tain, may induce the unconverted to cherish the 
influence of the divine Spirit, and may arouse 
some, who have resisted his operations, to con- 
sider their ways, before they are summoned to 
appear in the presence of their final Judge. 
The subject certainly is one of great practical 
importance, and deserves from all classes the 
most serious and prayerful attention. The Holy 
Spirit is often grieved by the impenitent for the 
want of correct impressions as to the nature and 
design of his gracious work. If the considera- 
tions herein presented are instrumental of lead- 
ing one sinner so to receive the Holy Spirit as 
to become the subject of his renewing grace, 
the writer will feel that his labor has not been 



4 PREFACE. 

lost, and the reader surely will have sufficient 
occasion for devout thanksgiving and praise. 

Although the cases in the ninth and twelfth 
chapters strongly resemble each other, it seemed 
proper notwithstanding to treat them separately, 
as the difference, at least in their external fea- 
tures, would lead a discriminating pastor to 
vary somewhat his method of treatment, in order 
to expect speedily the happiest results. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by hatred and opposition 

to Divine truth, 7 

CHAPTER II. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by caviling at Divine 

truth, 16 

CHAPTER III. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by ascribing his gracious 

operations to the influence of fanaticism, . . 23 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by excessive worldliness, 29 

CHAPTER V. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by the use of intoxicating 

liquors as common drinks, .... 36 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by vain amusements and 

worldly pleasure, 51 

1* 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Holy Spirit resisted by light reading, . . 64 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by concealing conviction, 74 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by deferring repentance, 79 

CHAPTER X. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by yielding to the entice- 
ments of ungodly associates, ... 86 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Holy Spirit resisted by a refusal on the part 
of awakened sinners to attend meetings of reli- 
gious inquiry, . 91 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Holy Spirit resisted by awakened sinners, 
when they are convinced that immediate sub- 
mission to God is their indispensable duty, but 
still neglect to do it, 97 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Concluding Remarks, 103 



TEE 



HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY HATRED AND OPPO- 
SITION TO DIVINE TRUTH. 

Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.— Acts 7 : 51. 

The faithful exhibition of divine truth 
awakens the opposition of the natural heart. 
An affecting illustration of this may be 
seen in the persecutors of Stephen, while 
they listened to the strains of inspired 
eloquence poured from the lips of that holy 
man. He spake with an elevation of soul, 
peculiar to one, who stood upon the verge 
of a brighter hemisphere, and had caught 
a glimpse of the loftier scenes of another 
world. In the light of a purer day, he 
surveyed the unhappy men before him, 



8 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

who thirsted for his blood, and were rap- 
idly fitting themselves for unmingled tribu- 
lation. The scene was deeply affecting. 
His compassions were moved, his benevo- 
lence kindled ; his heart glowed with celes- 
tial ardor for their salvation. In prospect 
of approaching death he addressed them 
with the energy and directness of a man 
of God. The word came with power. It 
was accompanied by the Holy Ghost. It 
discovered to them the enormity of trans- 
gression. It brought into open day the 
deeds of darkness concealed under the veil 
of a most specious exterior. It revived 
afresh in their memories the iniquities of 
their fathers, which by their conduct they 
approved, and spread out before them their 
own characters, stained with the blood of 
the saints. The picture was true, but they 
would not acknowledge it. They rejected 
the light; they resisted the Spirit; they 
were filled with indignation at a view of 
their own characters, and added to all 
their other crimes, the sin of stoning this 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. V* 

bold, devout and faithful servant of the 
Lord of glory. 

As the work of the Holy Spirit in the 
heart is indispensable to salvation, I design 
in this little book, to point out some of the 
ways in which sinners resist his gracious 
operations, and to show the fatal conse- 
quences of losing the converting power of 
this divine and friendly agent. 

In pursuance of this object, then, I re- 
mark, that sinners resist the Holy Ghost, 
when they hate and oppose the plain de- 
clarations of divine truth. The Spirit of 
God is the grand agent in regeneration. 
He employs truth to bring the mind to 
submit to Christ. When this truth is hated 
and opposed, the Spirit is opposed, and the 
very means, by which the soul is to be 
renewed and saved, are rejected. The 
Bible is the production of the Holy Spirit, 
for, " holy men of God spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost." All its truths 
therefore, perfectly correspond with the 
mind of the Spirit. When these truths are 



10 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

opposed, the Spirit is opposed, and the 
great instrumentality, which he employs to 
renovate the heart, is resisted, Those, 
who hate and oppose the gospel, when 
faithfully and powerfully preached, resist 
the Holy Ghost, for he is pleased to employ 
such exhibitions of his truth to awaken the 
conscience and save the soul. "It hath 
pleased God by the foolishness of preach- 
ing to save them that believe." It is the 
clear, pointed, faithful, pungent appeals of 
divine truth to the heart, which become 
mighty through God to the pulling down 
of the strong holds of sin. Such efforts he 
delights to bless. They are gratifying to 
the feelings of his benevolent heart. They 
are emphatically the sword of the Spirit. 
If sinners are converted at all, it will ordi- 
narily be, where the gospel is preached in 
its greatest purity and power. There will 
be seen the clearest manifestations of the 
divine Spirit; there will be witnessed the 
most affecting exhibitions of infinite power; 
there will be felt the most melting and 



¥he holy spirit resisted. II 

subduing operations of unsearchable love* 
Such a place is always solemn ; it is the 
house of God, the gate of heaven to all 
who believe and obey the Word. But a 
far different effect is produced upon those 
who resist the truth. To them the Word 
of eternal life becomes a savor of death un- 
to death. Such Was the effect of Stephen's 
preaching upon his unhappy auditors. It 
awakened the latent opposition of their 
carnal minds. They kindled into wrath 
at those affecting delineations of their guilty 
conduct. They openly withstood the Spir- 
it of grace, and lost his converting and 
saving power. Said that holy man, "Ye 
stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and 
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost ; 
as your fathers did, so do ye." They op- 
posed the truth, they quenched the Spirit, 
they hardened their hearts, and beyond a 
doubt, many of them sealed their final 
doom. In view of such amazing conse- 
quences, let us all beware how we treat 
the gospeL Hatred and opposition, con- 



12 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

tempt and scoffing grieve the Holy Ghost, 
and if that divine agent takes his final de- 
parture from a sinner, that sinner is ruined 
for a whole eternity. He sinks into a state 
of stupidity, or assumes an attitude of re- 
sistance, which no power of argument, no 
array of eloquence or appeals of divine 
truth are able to overcome. 

A young man, belonging to a respectable 
family, early began to hate and oppose the 
truths of evangelical religion. He soon 
embraced fundamental errors, became ex- 
ceedingly hardened in sin, resisted and 
grieved the Holy Ghost, and was appa- 
rently left by that heavenly agent, to fill 
up the measure of his iniquities. While 
multitudes around him were awakened by 
the Spirit, and melted into contrition and 
love, he continued to resist the truth, and 
in hardness of heart to fight against God* 
At length, by acts of uncommon wicked- 
ness, he was deprived of his reason, and 
died a most miserable and loathsome object 
of unrestrained depravity in the alms-house, 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 13 

Another young man early began to cher- 
ish opposition to the truths of revealed 
religion. He soon became an abandoned 
sinner, hushed the voice of conscience, 
opposed and quenched the influence of the 
Spirit, and to all human appearance was 
left by him in blindness of mind to work 
out his destruction. Overtaken in crime 
by the hand of justice, he was proved 
guilty of murder, and finished his short but 
dreadful career in depravity, a most hard- 
ened wretch upon the gallows. 

Voltaire, having resisted and grieved the 
Holy Spirit by his violent opposition to 
revealed religion, said to his attending 
physician, "If you will preserve my life 
six months, I will give you half my for- 
tune." His physician replied, "you can- 
not live six weeks." "Then," exclaimed 
he in despair, "I shall go to the devil." 

Paine, the infidel, endowed by his Crea- 
tor with a penetrating intellect, grieved the 
Holy Spirit by his bitter opposition to 
divine truth, and was left by him to follow 
2 



14 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED- 

the perverse inclinations of a carnal mind. 
Consumed by intemperance and licentious- 
ness, with bitter oaths and blasphemy upon 
his lips, he died in the frightful horrors of 
unmitigated despair. 

If further illustrations of this point were 
needed, we might look into those assem- 
blies, where evangelical truth is hated and 
opposed. Wealth and fashion, elegance 
and taste may be found in them, but the 
Spirit of God in his enlightening and con- 
verting power is not there. While congre- 
gations, close by their side, embracing 
evangelical doctrines, are blessed with the 
most glorious revivals of religion, and 
scores and hundreds, bowing sweetly to the 
authority of Jesus, are filled with love and 
joy unspeakable, they are left to slumber 
on in stupidity and unbelief. The anxious 
inquirer for the way of life and the weep- 
ing penitent are not there, The Holy 
Spirit, grieved by their opposition to his 
truth, leaves them in deep spiritual slum- 
ber to pass on unpardoned to the over- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 15 

whelming scenes of judgment and eternity. 
These are solemn facts, and in view of 
them, never allow yourself to cherish the 
slightest enmity to divine truth, whether 
proclaimed from the pulpit, or disclosed in 
the word of God. Never start back from 
its most powerful appeals to the under- 
standing and the heart. It is spoken in 
love, with a pure regard to your eternal 
salvation. Receive it then in the spirit of 
kindness, however clearly it may point out 
your guilt and danger, or the duty of im- 
mediate and unconditional submission to 
God. Love and obey the truth with the 
temper of him who died to save you, and 
it will prove instrumental of your immortal 
felicity. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY CAVILING AT DIVINE 
TRUTH. 

And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his 
raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads j 
1 am clean. — Acts IS : 6. 

To cavil with the Word of God is to 
raise false or frivolous objections to its im- 
portant truths. This is often done from 
settled opposition to the distinguishing doc- 
trines of revealed religion. Sometimes 
this course is taken to still the rebukes of 
an accusing conscience, or to shield the 
mind from religious impressions. At other 
times it is done from mere vanity to dis- 
cover the acuteness of one's penetration. 
But all such treatment of divine truth is 
exceedingly hazardous and sinful. Its ef- 
fect upon the mind is decidedly pernicious. 
It leads to open infidelity, and directly 
tends to grieve the Spirit of God. The 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 17 

Bible is a serious book. It was written for 
a sublime and holy end. It is the produc- 
tion of the Holy Spirit, and the grand 
means of human salvation. It will bear 
the most rigid inspection, and stand the 
scrutiny of the most powerful intellects. 
Such a book is dear to the heart of God, 
and bears the seal of his approbation. It 
should be treated with high veneration, 
studied with the utmost candor, and with 
a spirit of fervent prayer. Prayer melts 
and subdues the soul, and prepares it to re- 
ceive the truth in love. Those who cavil 
at the Bible, trifle with the Holy Spirit, 
who indited it. They impeach his ve- 
racity, and pour contempt upon the work of 
his hands. And will he not be grieved at 
such conduct ? Will he find a habitation 
in bosoms where insult, and scoffing, and 
vanity, and conceit, and evil speaking meet 
in communion to take counsel against 
the Lord of Hosts ? Will he not rather flee 
from such scenes of confusion and wanton 
hostility against the sublimest displays of 

9 * 



18 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

infinite love ? If you have doubts or diffi- 
culties in relation to the word of God, treat 
them like one, who is accountable for all 
his conduct at the bar of eternal justice. 
If you wish to have your difficulties re- 
moved, divest your mind of prejudice, and 
passion, and party feeling, and self-conceit, 
and enter upon these sacred studies with a 
humble, teachable, prayerful spirit. Read 
the Bible through in course at least once a 
year. In no other way can its peculiar 
force, beauty and excellence be so impres- 
sively discovered. A minister once re- 
marked, "I have read the Bible through in 
course fourteen times in fourteen years, 
and should I live fourteen years longer, 
and be blessed with health, I intend to do 
it again." " A good man, just ready to 
leave the world, expressed a desire to live 
a few days longer, that he might finish 
reading his Bible through in course the 
eighteenth time upon his knees." This is 
the way to understand the holy Scriptures. 
Be candid and patient in the investigation 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 19 

of divine truth, and ever remember, that as 
yet you are but a child in knowledge. 
When error is discovered in your precon- 
ceived opinions, reject it. When light 
beams in upon your darkness, admit it with 
joy, thank God and take courage. If diffi- 
culties still remain, pray over them. Lie 
low in the dust, and with a meek and gen- 
tle spirit, ask light from above. God will 
grant it ; he has promised to do it. " Ask, 
and ye shall receive." With this temper 
in studying the Scriptures, seek simply to 
know the truth, and receive it whenever 
discovered, although it should sweep away 
the very fabric and ground of all your for- 
mer belief. In this way, I have no doubt, 
you will soon be relieved from all your se- 
rious perplexities, and settle down upon a 
firm, unshaken belief in all the fundamen- 
tal truths of the gospel. But on no consid- 
eration cavil with the divine word, for to 
cavil is to trifle, and to trifle with the Spirit 
of God is a serious matter ; such conduct, 
if persisted in, will ruin the soul. 



20 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

Sir Francis Newport in his youth was 
the subject of religious impressions, and 
treated divine institutions with respect. As 
he advanced in life, he associated with in- 
fidels, who laughed at his serious regard 
for the sacred Scriptures. At first he with- 
stood their sneers, and defended manfully 
the truths of revealed religion. At length, 
however, yielding to their persuasions, he 
began to cavil, and trifle with the word of 
God, and finally took the ground of open 
infidelity. He scoffed ; he sneered ; the 
Holy Spirit was grieved, and left him, even 
in the present world, to feel the gnawings 
of the worm that never dies. His death- 
scene was most impressive and awful. At 
one time, he observed, "I have grieved his 
Holy Spirit so often that he has justly 
withdrawn his influences from me, and left 
me in the room thereof the spirit of impen- 
itence and reprobation. Oh, that I had 
never known what religion was ; then I 
had never denied my Saviour, nor been so 
black an heir of perdition." Looking to- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 21 

wards the fire, he said, " Oh that I was to 
lie and broil upon that fire a thousand years 
to purchase the favor of God, and be re- 
conciled to him again. But it is a fruitless 
wish. Millions of millions of years will 
bring me no nearer the end of my torments 
than one poor hour. O Eternity ! Eternity ! 
Who can discover the abyss of eternity? 
Who can paraphrase upon the words for- 
ever and ever. O ye rocks and mountains, 
that ye would cover me and hide me from 
the wrath of an incensed God ! But I can- 
not flee from his presence ; what he hath 
begun, he will finish ; he will extend his 
wrath against me forever and ever !" Just 
before he died, he exclaimed in the agonies 
of despair, " Oh, the insufferable pangs of 
hell and damnation," and expired. 

In view of this awfully admonitory fact, 
let me entreat you never to cavil with the 
Bible, nor trifle with its sacred truths, nor 
associate with those who are in the habit 
of doing it. Such conduct will grieve the 
Spirit, and if he takes his final departure, 



22 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

you must inevitably sink down to the 
flames of despair, where tears, and sighs 
and lamentations are unavailing. O re- 
member, that it is a fearful thing to fall 
unpardoned into the hands of the living 
God. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY ASCRIBING HIS GRA- 

CIOUS OPERATIONS TO THE INFLUENCE OF 

FANATICISM. 

Others mocking, said, These men are full of new wine.— ^Acts 2 : 13. 

Fanaticism is religious phrensy, or an 
excitement disproportionate to its object* 
It may and often does exist, where no di- 
vine influence is enjoyed. It may exist 
also in some degree in conjunction with the 
special operations of the Holy Spirit, but 
is never their legitimate fruit. The Spirit 
of God is an infinitely wise and holy agent, 
and always operates upon the mind in per- 
fect accordance with the best and noblest 
exercise of all its rational powers. He 
illuminates the understanding; awakens the 
conscience, subdues the heart, and calls 
into action an energetic, holy, governing 
principle. He stops men in the career of 



24 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

sin, and leads them to a total abandonment 
of all their unrighteous pursuits. He forms 
a new character, leads to a new and holy 
life, makes men like God in their moral 
feelings, and excites them to works of the 
most pure and expansive benevolence. In 
a word, the Holy Spirit inclines us to ab- 
hor iniquity, to abandon sin, and to love 
and serve God in the most vigorous and 
perfect exercise of all the moral powers. 
And is this fanaticism ? Is this an excite- 
ment disproportionate to the object ? If so, 
heaven is full of fanaticism, and the sooner 
the universe is filled with it the better. 
Submission to the divine will and obedi- 
ence to the divine commands are the rea- 
sonable duty of every sinner, and this is 
precisely what the Holy Spirit produces in 
regeneration. And shall such a work be 
called by opprobrious names ? Shall insult, 
and scorn, and contempt be poured upon 
the sublimest product of infinite love ? And 
yet, how often is this done by impenitent 
sinners in revivals of religion, where 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 25 

changes decidedly for the better are 
wrought in the human character ; changes 
too the most important and durable, and 
which no power short of infinite ever has 
or ever will produce. And will not such 
conduct grieve the Spirit ? Will he see 
his own work despised and vilified without 
expressing any tokens of disapprobation ? 
Will he pass unnoticed such flagrant in- 
sults, such wanton indignities ? " Let the 
potsherd strive with the potsherds of the 
earth, but woe unto him that striveth with 
his Maker." All, who treat the work of 
the Spirit in this manner, resist his gracious 
operations, and provoke him to give them 
over to a reprobate mind. 

" A thoughtless youth, who had grieved 
the Spirit by trifling away his day of grace, 
exclaimed on his dying bed, in the horrors 
of despair, ' Oh I am going, I am going to 
hell,' and shortly after expired without 
hope." 

At a time of great religious interest in a 
pleasant town in New England, three 
3 



26 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

young men, who were exceedingly de- 
praved, made sport of the work of God. 
On one occasion, when the Holy Ghost 
seemed to fill the place, where they were 
trifling, and numbers, burdened with sin, 
were anxious to know what they should do 
to be saved, an arrow from the Almighty, 
entering the heart of one of these young 
men, put an end to his mirth. His coun- 
tenance immediately changed. A sense of 
his amazing guilt filled him with indescrib- 
able anguish. He broke away from his 
companions, and at the close of the meet- 
ing, retired to his habitation, not to trifle, 
but to cry for mercy. Sleep departed from 
him. Trembling and astonished he sighed, 
and prayed, and asked in bitterness of spirit, 
" What shall I do to be saved ? " The lan- 
guage of his heart was, " O my sins, my 
sins ! What shall I do ! Can one so 
guilty as I am be pardoned ?" Some hours 
after, he was enabled to cast his burdened 
soul upon the mercy of an infinite Saviour, 
and found peace in believing. The tern- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 27 

pest was now past. He was reconciled to 
God. A heavenly serenity sat upon his 
countenance. All within was peace, and 
love, and joy unspeakable. His humility 
was deep. He became a devoted Christian, 
a man of prayer, and putting on the meek- 
ness and gentleness of Christ, adorned his 
profession of religion by a life of piety. 
His two companions, amidst the most glo- 
rious displays of divine grace, continued to 
trifle. They opposed the work of God; 
they called it by opprobrious names, and 
reviled those, who embraced the offers of 
mercy. The Holy Spirit, insulted and 
grieved by their opposition to his work, 
departed from them, and now, apparently 
given over to blindness of mind, they are 
travelling down unpardoned to a world of 
despair. 

O, be admonished by facts like these, 
never to trifle with revivals of religion. 
You cannot do it with safety. The Holy 
Spirit, grieved by such conduct, may leave 
you to mourn at the last, when your flesh 



28 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

and your heart are consumed, and say, 
"How have I hated instruction, and my 
heart despised reproof. I am lost, lost for- 
ever. The harvest is past, the summer is 
ended, and my soul is undone to all eter- 
nity," 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY EXCESSIVE WORLD- 
L1NESS. 



The care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the 
word, and he becometh unfruitful. — Matt. 13 : 22. 



A pressure of worldly business has a 
powerful tendency to draw the mind away 
from God. This every one knows, who 
has been at all encumbered with the affairs 
of the present life. " They that will be 
rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and 
into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
drown men in destruction and perdition." 
The design of the Holy Spirit in convincing 
us of sin, is to lead us to a cheerful sur- 
render of our hearts to Christ. This we 
should ever deeply feel, when favored with 
his gracious operations. If a sinner, blessed 
with special divine influence, contrary to 

3* 



30 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

the dictates of his conscience plunge too 
deeply into the business of the world, he 
will always retard this gracious work, and 
it may be constrain the Spirit to leave him 
forever. For in such a case, he does vio- 
lence to his own reason, and attempts to 
put out the light, which God is kindling up 
in his mind. With clearer views of sin, 
more affecting apprehensions of danger, 
more powerful impressions of duty, weight- 
ier motives pressing upon him to repent 
and live, the call of God waxing louder and 
louder, with light, and love, and goodness 
acting with augmented power to open his 
heart, and turn his affections from sin to 
holiness, he still pursues the perverse incli- 
nations of a carnal mind, and envelopes his 
soul in the darkness of a prolonged and 
fearful night. Those, who pursue this 
course, resist the Spirit. They declare 
plainly, that they prefer darkness to light, 
gain to godliness, death to life, sin to holi- 
ness, earth to heaven, shadows to substance, 
time to eternity, a momentary possession 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 31 

to an imperishable treasure, the gratifica- 
tion of a selfish spirit to the favor of the 
infinite God and a portion in his everlast- 
ing kingdom. Such conduct grieves the 
Spirit, for no worldly business whatever is 
worthy for a moment to be put in competi- 
tion with the salvation of the soul. The 
Holy Spirit knows how to estimate eternal 
things, and he knows how the sinner should 
estimate them, when favored with his en- 
lightening and saving power. A proper 
attention to the affairs of this life is lawful 
and right ; it is indeed what God requires, 
and will not interfere with our salvation. 
But an excessive attention to these things 
will interfere with our eternal interests, and 
may ruin the soul forever. Here, then, let 
me guard your mind. Never allow the af- 
fairs of this life to magnify themselves be- 
yond their proper dimensions ; on no con- 
sideration suffer them to withdraw your at- 
tention from a preparation for the over- 
whelming scenes of judgment and eternity. 



32 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

If you feel the gentle strivings of the 
Spirit, or his more powerful operations, 
never hush them by an excessive attention 
to the concerns of the present life. For 
what will it profit you to gain the world 
and lose your soul ? You may do an in- 
jury to yourself in a single hour, which 
eternity cannot repair. O, let not a little 
glittering dust outweigh the accumulating 
treasure of an eternal heaven ! 

In a busy village in New England there 
once lived a man who in early life discov- 
ered a strong desire to amass property. He 
was favored with remarkable health, and 
pursued his occupation with uncommon 
diligence. Early and late he was hard at 
work, and laid up every dollar which he 
could spare, to supply as he supposed his 
future wants. His business prospered, his 
family increased, and as the world was his 
darling idol, he added house to house, and 
field to field. While he was thus engaged 
in his worldly concerns, God in great mercy 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 33 

poured out his Spirit in a remarkable man- 
ner upon that village, and multitudes, awak- 
ened to a sense of their condition as sinners, 
were pressing into his spiritual kingdom. 
Hundreds were seen in the inquiry meeting, 
and the attention of all, in a greater or less 
degree, was directed to the subject of reli- 
gion. While the young and the old, the 
rich and the poor, men of business and in- 
fluence were earnestly seeking religion, the 
mind of this man was wrought upon by the 
Holy Ghost, and he also was found among 
the inquirers. The ministers of Christ and 
others conversed with him, and as numbers 
all around were embracing the Saviour, it 
was hoped that he also would renounce the 
world, and make choice of Jesus as his un- 
failing portion. This hope was not real- 
ized. Others found their way to the cross, 
but he lingered. The world was in his 
heart, and although the cord which bound 
him to his treasures was somewhat weak- 
ened, it was not entirely cut asunder, Af- 



34 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

ter some months great accessions were 
made to the churches, but this man was 
not among them. His love of gain returned, 
and though standing upon the threshold of 
the kingdom amidst such delightful solem- 
nities, he plunged again into the world, and 
quenched the kindlings of the heavenly 
visiter. The Holy Ghost now withdrew 
his influence, and left him to pursue unre- 
strained his chosen way. His heart was 
hard, and his course downward, dark and 
dreadful. The very atmosphere around 
him was polluted with his shocking profan- 
ity. A sullen gloom preyed upon his spirit ; 
the world lost its charms ; gold and silver, 
houses and lands, could not satisfy. Tired 
of earth, and stung with despair, he put an 
end to his earthly existence, and with the 
guilt of murder upon his soul, rushed into 
the presence of his final Judge. " The way 
of the transgressor is hard." " Love not 
the world." " Grieve not the Holy Spirit 
of God." "Turn ye from your evil ways, 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 35 

for why will ye die?" " Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved." 



CHAPTER V. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY THE USE OF INTOXI- 
CATING LiaUORS AS COMMON DRINKS. 

Woe to the crown of prrde, to the drunkards of Ephraim.— Is. 28 : 1. 

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his* 
color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it bitethf 
like a serpent, and strngeth like an adder. — Prov. 23 ; 31, 32. 

Touch not, taste not, handle not. — Col. 2 : 21. 



It has now become a well known and a 
well established truth, that the use of intox- 
icating liquors as common drinks is injuri- 
ous both to the body and mind. They 
undermine the constitution, enfeeble the 
health, sear the conscience, derange the 
judgment, harden the heart, render the 
mind less susceptible of religious impres- 
sions from the exhibition of divine truth, 
and if not rejected, will hasten the body to 
a premature grave, and the deathless soul 
to a world of despair. And can the use of 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 37 

drinks, which produce such results be in- 
nocent ? Impossible. It is most clearly a 
sin to use ardent spirit, when in health, as 
a common beverage, and a sin heinous in 
the sight of God in proportion to the clear- 
ness of the light which has been thrown 
upon this subject. But sin of all descrip- 
tions, while indulged and cherished, grieves 
the Holy Ghost, and counteracts his benev* 
olent design. The sinner, who drinks ar- 
dent spirit daily, amidst that flood of light, 
which is now poured down upon him, can* 
not expect, and will not enjoy the convicting 
and converting power of the Holy Com- 
forter; for he does deliberately what he 
knows, or may know, to be wrong and ex* 
ceedingly offensive in the sight of God. 
The same remarks may be applied to the 
daily use of wine, cider, strong beer and 
the like, in proportion to their alcoholic 
properties. They are all unnecessary; all 
hurtful, and the habitual use of them should 
be entirely and forever abandoned. An 
inspired writer declares that u wine is a 
4 



38 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED 

mocker, and strong drink is raging," and 
rage and mockery, the legitimate effects of 
intoxicating drinks, are completely at vari- 
ance with that divine and heavenly influ- 
ence employed in the work of the soul's 
conversion. 

In Is. 28 i 7, we read, " But they also 
have erred through wine, and through 
strong drink are out of the way ; the priest 
and the prophet have erred through strong 
drink ; they are swallowed up of wine, they 
are out of the way through strong drink ; 
they err in vision, they stumble in judg- 
ment.' 7 In this passage the effects of in- 
toxicating drinks, as described by the Holy 
Ghost, are, wandering from the right way, 
error in vision, and stumbling in judgment ; 
effects altogether diverse from those pro- 
duced in regeneration by the Spirit of God. 
The Holy Ghost leads back the wandering 
sinner to the path of holiness ; he removes 
that false medium, through which in a 
state of nature, he gets erroneous views of 
spiritual objects, and enables him to form a 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 39 

correct judgment of divine and eternal 
things. The influence of ardent spirit is 
impure, sensual, debasing, dragging the 
soul downward to death and to hell, while 
the influence of the divine Comforter is 
holy, spiritual, ennobling, elevating, and 
lifting the soul upward to God and the 
Lamb. 

My whole experience in from fifteen to 
twenty revivals of religion, and a good pro- 
portion of them revivals of great power, 
perfectly corresponds with the views I have 
just expressed. I cannot recollect an indi- 
vidual for twenty years past, in the daily 
habit of drinking ardent spirit, who has be- 
come a subject of regenerating grace. Per- 
sons of this description generally feel little 
or no interest in regard to experimental re- 
ligion, and if awakened at all, unless they 
change their habits, soon grieve the Holy 
Spirit, and sink down into a state of greater 
stupidity and hardness of heart than before. 
There is and can be no sympathy, no har- 
mony at all between the effects of intoxi- 



40 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

eating liquors, when taken into the human 
system, and the operations of the Spirit of 
God. The use of them invariably, in pro- 
portion to the quantity taken, resists and 
grieves the Holy Spirit. A fact or two 
may serve to illustrate this truth. At a 
time of some religious interest, a man, in 
the habit of drinking ardent spirit, was 
brought to think seriously upon a prepara- 
tion for another world. His minister, who 
well knew his practice in this particular, 
warned him of his danger, and urged and 
entreated him to abandon at once and for- 
ever the use of intoxicating liquors. He 
replied in effect, that he apprehended no 
danger from this quarter ; that he did not 
calculate to drink much, and that a little 
could surely do him no harm. With these 
views he went on from day to day, but 
made no progress in his way to the cross. 
At length he began to feel less interest in 
respect to his soul's salvation. The Holy 
Spirit was evidently grieved, and soon after 
withdrew his influence, and left him still 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 41 

longer to pursue his own chosen and dread- 
ful way. Some years after, this same man 
was awakened again, and resolved in seri- 
ous earnest to seek religion. He now gave 
up the use of intoxicating drinks, and at- 
tended diligently upon the means of grace. 
His religious impressions were deepened. 
The Holy Spirit broke down the opposition 
of his heart, and led him as a guilty sup- 
pliant to the feet of Jesus. He soon found 
peace in believing, came out decidedly upon 
the side of Christ, subscribed a temperance 
pledge, professed in due time his faith in 
Jesus, and is now hopefully travelling to 
the general assembly and church of the 
first-born which are written in heaven. 

In another town where God was pouring 
out his Spirit, a man of great influence, 
who was in the daily habit of using ardent 
spirit, was led to think seriously upon his 
eternal interests, and took his place among 
the inquirers. Although the scene was 
deeply affecting and numbers around him 

4* 



42 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

were submitting to Christ, he remained 
stationary. It was evident that some ob- 
struction was in his way. Though not a 
drunkard he would still take his regular 
glass ; no persuasion could induce him to 
abstain from it. The consequence was, he 
lost his serious impressions. The Spirit of 
God, unwilling to perform a work of grace 
in his soul, while he persisted in this guilty 
practice, and grieved again and again by his 
sensual indulgence, took, it is feared, his 
everlasting flight. Years have rolled away 
since that period, and the town has been re- 
peatedly visited with powerful revivals, but 
this man has not yet been numbered among 
the converts to righteousness. He still 
slumbers on in sin, though grey hairs and 
the infirmities of age admonish him that 
death is just at the door. No arguments 
drawn from the dying love of Jesus, the 
worth of the soul, or the momentous scenes 
of an approaching eternity, can effectually 
move his spirit, or break his repose. To 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 43 

all human appearance he will live and die 
as he is, in stupidity and unbelief, and 
finally experience the indignation and 
wrath, tribulation and anguish measured 
out to those who do despite to the Spirit of 
grace. 

And now, if you have not yet done it, let 
me advise and entreat you as a friend, in 
view of these and a multitude of similar 
facts, to abstain entirely from the use, as a 
beverage, of intoxicating drinks. But do 
you ask, " May I not take occasionally a 
little wine ?" No, never, except in case of 
sickness, or for sacramental purposes. " But 
may I not drink fermented cider, strong 
beer, and the like?" No, never, not even^a 
glass of them in the possession of health, 
for the price of your soul. The use of them 
internally, in proportion to their alcoholic 
properties, stupifies the conscience, hardens 
the heart, and grieves the Holy Ghost, by 
whose agency you must be renewed, and 
sanctified, and fitted for the service of a 



44 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

holy heaven. Will you deliberately sell 
your deathless soul for the momentary 
gratification of a sensual appetite ? Will 
you grieve the Spirit of God by doing that 
which experience and facts corresponding 
with divine testimony, prove to be wrong ? 
Will you barter away a crown of life, a far 
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 
at God's right hand by the use of that, the 
tendency of which is to destroy both soul 
and body in hell forever ? It cannot, must 
not be. "Do not," saith Jehovah, " that 
abominable thing which I hate." If, how- 
ever, advice will not answer, let me de- 
scend to entreaty, and beseech you by the 
worth of the soul, by the tears and agonies, 
the blood and death of an atoning Saviour, 
by all that is precious in time, and all that 
is joyous or painful in a vast eternity, 
touch not, taste not, handle not the ac- 
cursed thing. 

But I must not close this chapter, with- 
out inquiring, Do you sell intoxicating li-- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 45 

quors to be used as a common beverage ? 
And if so, can this be right ? Is it an hon- 
orable employment ? Is it a business in the 
pursuit of which you can reasonably ex- 
pect to enjoy the converting operations of 
the divine Spirit and the gracious smiles of 
the God of love ? To ascertain this point 
clearly, just compare your work and its 
effects with the work of the Holy Spirit. 
Yours is to curse mankind, and his to bless 
them ; yours to kill and his to make alive; 
yours to produce anger, and wrath, and 
clamor, and evil-speaking, and every wicked 
work, and his to promote peace on earth 
and good will to men ; yours to scatter fire- 
brands, arrows and death on every side, 
and change whole communities into a scene 
of frightful desolation, mourning and wo, 
his to diffuse abroad peace, and love, and 
joy, and make this vale of tears appear like 
a field, which the Lord has blessed. The 
effect of your business is to break up the 
peace of families, to alienate husband and 



46 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

wife, to multiply the forms of crime and 
wretchedness on every side, to fill our jails 
with prisoners, our almshouses with pau- 
pers, our country with widows, our asylums 
with orphans, our grave-yards with prema- 
ture mortality, our land with weeping, and 
the world of wo with the victims of de- 
spair ; while the tendency of the divine 
Spirit's work is to perpetuate peace in fam- 
ilies, to strengthen and render more delight- 
ful the conjugal relation, to diminish the 
forms of crime and misery on every side, to 
make the guilty holy and the wretched 
happy, to dry up the widow's tears, and 
cause the orphan's heart to sing for joy, to 
make the poor rich in faith, and heirs of 
God's everlasting kingdom, to bind up the 
broken heart, to proclaim liberty to the 
captives, and the opening of the prison to 
them that are bound ; and finally to regen- 
erate the world, and fill heaven with holy, 
glorified spirits, and endless praise. 

From the contrast, you clearly perceive 



ME KOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. At 

that your employment and its tendency are 
altogether diverse from the work of the 
Holy Spirit in the human heart. And can 
you suppose for a moment, that God will 
work in you both to will and to do of his 
good pleasure, while you deliberately pur- 
sue this guilty traffic ? Such a supposition 
is utterly vain. God's work is holy and 
yours sinful. This guilty business must 
be relinquished, before you will know by 
experience, that the Lord is gracious. A 
single fact will illustrate this point. In a 
revival of great interest and power in a 
commercial town, a merchant, doing larg6 
business, was seen regularly in the inquiry 
meeting, and appeared to be deeply con- 
cerned to know what he should do to be 
saved. The ministers of Christ conversed 
with him kindly, and directed him to the 
Lamb of God for pardon. Week after 
week foiled away, but he found no peace 
in believing. One evening a minister from 
abroad, who had come in to assist in this 



48 TltE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

laborious work, and had frequently con- 
versed with this merchant, wishing if pos- 
sible to detect the lurking sin, which pre- 
vented him from embracing the Saviour, 
held with him, in substance, the following 
conversation. " What, sir, is your em- 
ployment ?" " I am a merchant." " What 
do you sell?" " Groceries, sir." " Do 
you sell ardent spirit ? " "I do." " What 
quantity have you now in your store ? " 
" Twenty hogsheads." "And can you 
expect to be pardoned, while thus sinning 
against God?" "Do you think it sinful, 
sir, to sell ardent spirit ? " "Indeed I do, 
for human consumption ; it is not only sin- 
ful, but monstrous. You must relinquish 
this guilty business, or lie down unpar- 
doned in endless sorrow." The merchant 
looked sad, and went home in distress. It 
was indeed a trying moment. He reflected, 
he prayed, and then concluded that his 
soul was infinitely more valuable than gold 
that perisheth. In view of his final account 



THE ttOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 49 

at the bar of God, he decided manfully to 
relinquish that part of his business, and 
deal no more in the blood of souls. He 
soon cleared his store of the dreadful poi- 
son, sacrificed a large sum of money, shortly 
after experienced a hope in Christ, came 
into the visible church in due time, and 
went on his way rejoicing. Oh, dear reader, 
be wise now for eternity. Stop while you 
may, turn while you can. Repent and re- 
nounce this work of death while God is 
upon a throne of mercy. He cannot, he 
will not pardon, while you continue in sin. 
duench not the Spirit by a moment's de- 
lay. Who can dwell with devouring fire ? 
Who can dwell with everlasting burnings ? 
Sell not your precious soul for worldly 
gain, for a mere pittance^ which will prove 
only a curse in this life, and yield a sure 
harvest of anguish untold, unmitigated and 
unextinguishable in the dark regions of 
despair. Soon you must die and stand be- 
fore God, and answer at his dreadful bar 

5 



§0 Tttfi ttOLY SPtltiT RESlStm 

for the deeds done here in the body. How 
awful the scene! Are you prepared to 
meet it ? Bear with me while I expostu-* 
late, and ask. Why will you die ? 

" Hasten, O sinner, to be blest, 

And stay not for the morrow's sun, 
For fear the curse should thee arrest* 
Before the needful work is done;" 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY VAIN AMUSEMENTS 
AND WORLDLY PLEASURE. 

Heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. 
From such turn away. — 2 Tim. 3 : 4, 5. 

Vain amusements dissipate the mind, 
and counteract serious impressions. The 
indulgence of sinful pleasure begets a dis- 
taste for the refined enjoyments of pious 
contemplation. The unconverted often 
associate with humble piety all that is for- 
bidding, and gloomy, and morose in the 
human character. They appear to think 
that religion would dry up all their springs 
of earthly enjoyment. Influenced by these 
mistaken views, they brace themselves 
against the truth, and amuse their minds 
with mere trifles to ward off the convictions 
of the Holy Ghost. It however some- 
times occurs that such persons are awaken- 



52 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

ed to reflection, and led to contemplate 
seriously the realities of a future life. 
Their sins oppress them. The gay scenes 
of this world die away from their vision, 
and eternity rolls up before them with an 
overwhelming grandeur. They are un- 
happy and disconsolate ; all in time is 
cheerless ; all beyond seems dark and 
dreadful ; they sigh for comfort, but find it 
not. Restless and forlorn, they resolve to 
shake off these uncomfortable impressions ; 
the process is easy ; the means at hand. 
The stream of worldly pleasure rolls at 
their feet, inviting them by a thousand 
charms to embark upon its deceitful waters. 
Wearied with mental tossing, they launch 
away to seek repose upon its descending 
tide. Their minds are now diverted, the 
Spirit grieved, anxiety gone, all is gay and 
cheerful, until their frail bark begins to 
tremble upon the bosom of a mightier tide. 
An ocean opens, its billows roll, they awake 
in consternation, but all is lost. Driven 
upon its angry waves they are dashed, and 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 53 

sink forever in the fathomless abyss. This 
is the fate of multitudes, who stifle con- 
viction by intoxicating pleasure, and grieve 
the Spirit of God with vain amusements. 

It is said that a young nobleman in 
England was once so deeply impressed 
with a sense of eternal things, that he knelt 
down to pray. Just at this moment it 
occurred to him, that some one might see 
him through the key-hole in the attitude of 
devotion. He rose from his knees, and 
having secured this opening, it occurred to 
him that he would drop his window cur- 
tains. While doing this, some charming 
music in the street caught his attention. 
He listened, his thoughts were diverted 
from the object of prayer. When the 
music ceased, his serious impressions were 
gone ; he had no inclination to pray. 
The Holy Spirit, slighted and grieved, had 
departed from him, and so far from being 
disposed to offer supplications, he rushed 
from his closet into the theatre to enjoy 
those sinful pleasures, which plunge the 
5* 



54 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

soul prematurely into the fire that never 
shall be quenched. Oh, it is dangerous to 
trifle with the friendly visits of this divine 
Comforter. Should he take his final de- 
parture, the soul is destined to a world of 
endless mourning. Here then let us pause, 
and ponder well our course, for it is a truth 
as capable of demonstration as any one in 
moral science, that all foolish talking and 
jesting and sporting entertainments, and 
thoughtless merriment, and impious trifling, 
and the whole round of giddy pleasures in- 
consistent with the devout spirit of the 
gospel, grieve the Holy Ghost, and if not 
relinquished, will seal our final doom. If, 
dear reader, you ever intend to enter heav- 
en, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, 
whereby you must be sealed unto the day 
of redemption. Engage in no conversation, 
mingle with no company, and pursue no 
course of conduct, upon which you cannot 
heartily and devoutly ask the divine bless- 
ing. Shun balls and idle sports, and par- 
ties of sinful pleasure, as you would the 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 55 

fearful gateway to despair. Amusements 
of this description grieve the Spirit of God. 
They harden the heart, and if not relin- 
quished, will ruin the soul forever. " If I 
can persuade her to go to the ball," said a 
young man, " I will risk her getting reli- 
gion." The lovers of pleasure know well 
how to grieve the Spirit of God, and drive 
away serious impressions, and they lay their 
plans accordingly. The idle sports of one 
short evening, yea, of a single hour, may 
seal your final doom, and be followed by a 
whole eternity of unavailing lamentation 
and wo. Oh trifle not with infinite love ! 
Prefer not the momentary enjoyment of 
sinful mirth to the endless pleasures at 
God's right hand. Sport not with ap- 
proaching judgment, and the overwhelm- 
ing scenes of immortality. Young Alta- 
mont, who was a lover of pleasure more 
than a lover of God, and had grieved away 
the Holy Ghost, exclaimed as he drew near 
eternity and the bar of his final judge, " O 
time, time ! it is fit that thou shouldst thus 



56 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

strike thy murderer to the heart ! How 
art thou fled forever! A month ! Oh for 
a single week ! I ask not for years, though 
an age were too little for the much I have 
to do. Remorse for the past throws my 
thoughts on the future. Worse dread of 
the future strikes them back on the past. 
I turn, and turn, and find no ray ; and is 
there another hell ? O thou blasphemed, 
indulgent Lord God ! Hell itself will be a 
refuge, if it hides me from thy frown." 
" Another, who in early life, broke away 
from parental restraints, and plunged into a 
vortex of sinful pleasure, as he felt the 
resistless hand of death fastened upon him 
became awfully alarmed; he seemed actu- 
ally frantic ; the very bed shook under him, 
as if with supernatural strength he tried to 
raise himself up, and shrieked out for some 
moments, ' O Lord Jesus, have mercy on 
me ! God of my father, have mercy on 
me ! O Christ, have mercy on me ! O 
curses, curses on those who enticed me 
from my father's God into their infidel 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 57 

ways ! O mercy, mercy. Lord, on me, a 
poor miserable outcast ! ' Thus he con- 
tinued wailing, sometimes crying for mer- 
cy, frequently uttering imprecations, until 
his strength was utterly exhausted, and his 
spirit, with an agonizing struggle took its 
everlasting flight. 

' A death bed's a detector of the heart ; 
Men may live fools, but fools they cannot die.' " 

And now, reader, in view of such exam- 
ples, speaking with fearful solemnity from 
the threshold of the coming world, will 
you pursue the giddy paths of sinful pleas- 
ure, and enter the valley of the shadow of 
death, without one glimmering star of hope 
to cheer you amidst the gathering darkness 
of the tomb ? Will you drink the full cup 
of sensual delight in this moment of pro- 
bation, and be compelled in exchange for it 
to drink to all eternity the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is poured out without 
mixture into the -cup of his indignation? 



58 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

" Stop, poor sinner, stop and think, 
Before you farther go ; 
Will you sport upon the brink 
Of everlasting wo ?" 

Before you resolve upon such a course, 
listen attentively to the declaration of Je- 
hovah. " Rejoice, O young man, in thy 
youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee in the 
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of 
thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : 
but know thou, that for all these things, 
God will bring thee into judgment." O yes, 
he will assuredly bring you into judgment, 
and that you may now realize the solemni- 
ty of this event, and prepare for it, just fol- 
low the impenitent sinner to the bar of 
God, into the presence of him, before whom 
the heavens and the earth flee away, whose 
eyes like a flame of fire, with the concen- 
trated power of a thousand sunbeams, will 
pierce him through and through, and by 
whose lips will be pronounced, like the 
noise of many waters, and the voice of 
mighty thunderings, that awful sentence, 



fHE HOLY SMitt? ItESlSTEti* 59 

H Depart from me ye cursed into everlast* 
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels." O remember that this fearful sen- 
tence once pronounced by Jehovah, is pro- 1 
nounced forever! The principalities of 
heaven, earth and hell cannot revoke it* 
"For he is of one mind, and who can turn 
him? " Heaven and earth shall pass away^ 
but his word shall not pass away. O that 
final, fearful sentence, " Depart from me," 
when pronounced by the great Judge of 
quick and dead, will fill the guilty, con- 
demned sinner with unutterable consterna- 
tion ! His day of grace is passed. His 
sun has set in everlasting night. His doom 
is sealed, irrevocably, eternally sealed* 
The light of hope is extinguished forever. 
The waves of divine indignation have com- 
menced their ceaseless rolling. His home 
is eternal, his companions eternal, his pains 
eternal. Final despair, with all its unmiti- 
gated, unextinguishable aggravations will 
brood over his spirit, and cover futurity 
with impervious gloom. Through eternity, 



60 ME HOLY SPIRIT RESIS^EC, 

ever wasting, never ending, he must live td 
acknowledge how fearful it is to grieve the 
Holy Ghost, and fall unpardoned into the 
hands of the living God, who will render 
to every man according to his works, and 
will by no means clear the guilty. 

Turn now from the death scene of those 
who have grieved the Spirit of God, by 
indulging in sinful pleasure, to that of Dr. 
Payson, who received the Holy Ghost, and 
in his dying hours appeared to be filled 
with his heavenly influence. " I am going 
to Mount Zion," said that great and good 
man, in an ecstasy of joy, "I am going to 
Mount Zion, to the city of the living God> 
the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable 
company of angels, to the general assem* 
bly and church of the first-born, and to 
God, the judge of all. The celestial city 
is full in my view. Its glories beam upon 
me, its breezes fan me, its odors are wafted 
to me, its sounds strike upon my ear, and 
its spirit is breathed into my heart. Noth- 
ing separates me from it, but the river of 



*mt JlOht SPIRIT MSISTEft. 61 

death, which now appears as an insignifi- 
cant rill, that may be crossed at a single 
step, whenever God shall give permission, 
The Sun of righteousness has been gradu- 3 
ally drawing nearer and nearer, appearing 
larger and brighter as he approached, and 
now he fills the whole hemisphere, pouring 
forth a flood of glory in which I seem to 
float like an insect in the beams of the sun^ 
exulting, yet almost trembling while I gaze 
on this excessive brightness, and wondering 
with unutterable Wonder, why God should 
deign thus to shine upon a sinful worm* 
A single heart and a single tongue seem 
altogether inadequate to my wants. I Want 
a whole heart for every separate emotion, 
and a whole tongue to express that emo* 
tion." Again, "I can find no words to 
express my happiness. I seem to be swim- 
ming in a river of pleasure, which is carry-* 
ing me on to the great fountain. Last 
night I had a full, clear view of death, as 
the king of terrors ; how he comes and 
crowds the poor sinner to the very verge 

6 



63 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

of the precipice of destruction, and then 
pushes him down headlong. But I felt 
that I had nothing to do with this, and I 
love to sit like an infant at the feet of 
Christ, who saved me from this fate. I 
felt that death was disarmed of all his ter- 
rors ; all that he could do was to touch me, 
and let my soul loose to go to my Saviour. 
My soul, instead of growing weaker and 
more languishing as my body does, seems 
to be endued with an angel's energies, and 
to be ready to break from the body, and to 
join with those around the throne." 

Such triumphs and joys, such delightful 
anticipations of future blessedness are the 
fruits of the Spirit, and they are never en- 
joyed by those who resist his influence* 
As you clearly perceive a striking contrast 
between these two characters, your sober 
judgment will not leave you in doubt for a 
moment which to prefer. O be wise to 
refuse the evil, and to choose the good. 
Receive and cherish the Spirit's influence, 
and through his abounding grace you will 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 63 

be able to triumph amidst the conflicts of 
dissolving nature, and shine at last as the 
brightness of the firmament, and as the 
stars forever and ever. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY LIGHT READING. 

Many also of them which used curious arts, brought their books 
together, and burned them before all men. — Acts 19 : 19. 

By light reading I mean novels, romances 
and plays, and much of a similar descrip- 
tion, found in many of the penny pamphlets 
and some of the secular newspapers of the 
present day. The plots and characters, 
the exciting scenes, the novel tales and 
visionary descriptions, to say nothing of the 
profane and licentious thoughts often found 
in such productions, show clearly that the 
reading of them would be disastrous to a 
mind favored with the operations of the 
Holy Spirit. That divine agent has no 
sympathy with, nor delight in such produc- 
tions. They counteract his gracious design 
in the work of redemption ; and the sinner, 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 65 

who persists in reading them, when favored 
with his awakening influence, will do it at 
the peril of his soul. You might almost as 
soon expect to find salvation in a ball-room 
or theatre, as while reading such books. 
Their effect upon the heart is altogether 
diverse from the effect produced by the 
Holy Spirit in the work of conversion. 
Their tendency is to amuse the mind, to 
excite the passions, to destroy serious re- 
flection, to kill devotion, to withdraw the 
affections from the Bible, the heart from 
the closet and sanctuary, and the thoughts 
from a serious contemplation of God and 
the realities of a coming world. 

Allow me here to state a fact, illustrating 
the influence of such reading upon the mind 
and heart of an experimental Christian. 
Some years ago a distinguished clergyman 
in New England had an impression, that 
to appear in society as a man of intelli- 
gence, he must read Scott's novels. To 
accomplish this object, he exchanged three 
Sabbaths in succession with his brethren 

6* 



66 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

in the ministry, and devoted the time thus 
gained to novel reading. He accomplished 
his purpose, but the experiment proved 
disastrous to his religious interests. His 
prayers became heartless and formal. The 
peculiar delight, which he had previously 
found in the study of the Scriptures, and 
in communion with God, was gone. The 
Holy Spirit, grieved at this sinful misap- 
plication of his time and talents, withdrew 
his presence, and left him desolate. He 
could not study or preach with a heavenly 
unction, nor were his feelings in a proper 
state to pray with, and direct an inquiring 
sinner to the Lamb of God. His eyes were 
now open upon the folly and guilt of the 
course he had pursued. He saw and felt 
that he had done wrong, that he had re- 
sisted and grieved the Spirit of God. He 
confessed his sin ; he sighed and mourned, 
and with deep contrition besought the 
Lord once more to afford him his gracious 
presence. At length the cloud was with- 
drawn, but not until he had been taught, 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 67 

by mournful experience, never again in this 
way to grieve the Spirit of God. It is to 
be hoped that no minister of Christ will 
ever try a similar experiment. 

Now if such reading would constrain 
the Holy Spirit to withdraw his sanctifying 
influence from one whom he loved, we 
might surely expect, that he would with- 
hold his renewing operations from an im- 
penitent sinner, pursuing a similar course, 
while his thoughts and feelings are only 
evil continually. And such we find to be 
the fact. Sinners, who in revivals of reli- 
gion, devote themselves to light reading, 
are not among the converts to righteous- 
ness. They are generally averse to severe 
thought and solemn reflection. They are 
too much occupied with the exciting scenes 
portrayed in fiction to bestow a serious 
thought upon a preparation for another 
world. The Holy Spirit, grieved by this 
sinful abuse of their time and powers, 
leaves them to pursue their chosen way. 

A youth in college, who devoted his 



68 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

time almost entirely to this kind of reading, 
passed through a revival of religion of such 
power, that it seemed as if heaven and 
earth had met in solemn conference. The 
presence of God in a peculiar sense filled 
the place. Sports were relinquished, and 
profanity and trifling hushed. Young men 
of taste and refinement, and even the pro- 
fane and dissolute were subdued and hum- 
bled, and enabled to sit together in joyful 
penitence at the feet of Jesus. He beheld 
his companions in study, and those who 
sat by his side at the same table, bowed 
down under a sense of sin, and become 
new creatures in Christ Jesus. He saw 
them entirely changed ; he heard them 
converse and pray, but his own heart was 
unaffected. Warnings were unheeded, and 
the entreaties of the pious heard without 
effect. As the revival progressed, God's 
chosen vessels were gathered into his spirit- 
ual kingdom, but this youth was not among 
them. Read novels and plays he would 
and did, even amidst these remarkable 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 69 

scenes of gracious visitation. He disregard- 
ed the work of the Lord, and the Spirit 
left him among those who despise, and 
wonder, and finally perish. He left college 
an impenitent sinner. Some time after, dis- 
ease seized upon him, and he died, and was 
called, it is feared, unexpectedly to himself, 
to give up his account to that God who has 
said, " Those mine enemies, which would 
not that I should reign over them, bring 
hither, and slay them before me." Luke 
19: 27. "He that being often reproved, 
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be 
destroyed, and that without remedy." Pro v. 
29: 1. 

Let those, who read these pages, be ad- 
vised upon a subject so intimately con- 
nected with their eternal welfare. It is a 
serious matter to live in a revival of reli- 
gion, and to be called in a special manner 
by the Holy Spirit to make one's peace 
with God. The scene is serious. The 
work to be done and its results are serious. 
The Spirit of God, reader, who comes to 



70 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED, 

work in you both to will and to do of his 
good pleasure, is serious. You too should 
be serious ; you must be serious, or expe- 
rience the woes of the second death. To 
amuse yourself with light reading, under 
such circumstances, would not only be out 
of place but highly criminal. It would be 
trifling with heaven and hell, with God and 
salvation. It would show conclusively, 
that you prefer an hour's entertainment to 
the everlasting favor of God. It would be 
an insult offered to the Holy Spirit, who 
knows well what estimate you ought to set 
upon his convicting and converting influ- 
ence. He comes to save, and will you 
trifle. He comes to pluck you as a brand 
from the eternal burnings, and will you be 
heedless ? He comes to convince you of 
sin, to lead you to Christ for pardon, and 
will you constrain him to leave you by a 
wanton misapplication of your time and 
powers ? O, trifle not, when God comes so 
near ! You cannot do it with safety. A 
single half hour at such a time, devoted to> 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED, 71 

a novel or romance, or any reading of this 
description, may constrain the Spirit to 
leave you forever, and seal your final doom. 

But do you ask, What may I read with 
safety ? The Bible first and most of all, 
and especially the New Testament, with 
the Psalms and Prophets. " Baxter's Call 
to the Unconverted," "Alleine's Alarm," 
" Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion 
in the Soul," and books of a kindred spirit 
may be read by an inquiring sinner with 
profit and safety. When the way of life is 
discovered from these books, you must by 
repentance and faith enter upon it immedi- 
ately. Hesitation or delay under such 
circumstances is sinful, and will grieve the 
Spirit. 

There is a state of feeling under the 
operations of the Spirit, in which the taste 
for light reading is, for the time at least, 
entirely destroyed. At a season of special 
religious interest in my congregation, a 
young lady, much inclined to novel read- 
ing, suspended the perusal of one^ which 



72 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED* 

she thought peculiarly interesting, to at- 
tend religious meetings. Her attention was 
arrested ; she was convicted of sin, and at 
a certain stage of her conviction, to her 
great surprise, she entirely lost her taste 
for novels, and laid the book aside as a 
worthless thing. Up to this point in con- 
viction there is peculiar danger ; beyond it 
the sinner will not trifle. 

One fact more. In that powerful revival 
of religion in D— — College in 1826, the 
novel departments in the circulating libra- 
ries were scarcely touched, while at other 
times they were generally empty. The 
operations of the Spirit were so deep and 
powerful, that convicted sinners lost their 
taste for reading of this description, and 
those who were slightly awakened, or not 
awakened at all, were so overawed with 
the divine presence, that their attention wa& 
directed another way. At the same time 
these libraries were entirely emptied of 
such works as those of Baxter and Dod- 
dridge, which for years preceding had rest- 



THE HOLT SPIRIT RESISTED. 73 

ed on their shelves in undisturbed re- 
pose. 

I appeal to facts for the purpose of illus- 
tration ; and facts are arguments, which, 
like figures, will not deceive. I have felt 
constrained to speak freely on this subject, 
and to speak with solemnity and emphasis, 
since our country at the present day is 
flooded with productions, which pollute the 
mind, and are strikingly fitted to destroy 
both soul and body in hell forever. Reader, 
beware. You are acting for eternity. Dan- 
gers stand thick around you, and they are 
more to be dreaded, since they appear in 
disguise, and like the serpent charm only 
to destroy. Quench not the Spirit. Hasten 
to Christ. Acquaint now thyself with him, 
and be at peace, whereby good shall come 
unto thee. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY CONCEALING CON- 
VICTION. 

My Spirit shall not always strive with man.— Gen. 6 : 3. 

Conviction of sin is the work of the 
Spirit, and a disposition to conceal it is 
opposed to the very genius of the gospel. 
Pride is at the bottom of all such feelings, 
and pride is detestable in the sight of God. 
" Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of 
me and of my words," says our Saviour, 
" of him also shall the Son of Man be 
ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of 
his Father with the holy angels." Many 
have checked the operations of the Spirit, 
and lost them entirely, by concealing their 
convictions. Sinners will sometimes hide 
the conflict in their own bosoms, until 
nature herself, sighing beneath the load, 
tells to demonstration, that trouble is there. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 75 

A young man, awakened by the Spirit 
in a revival of religion, after a night of 
anxiety and weeping in view of his perish- 
ing condition, in the morning carefully 
wiped from his face all traces of his tears, 
and assumed an air of lightness, lest the 
family should suspect that he was about to 
forsake the world, and choose the Saviour 
as his everlasting portion. Such conduct 
is a stern resistance of the divine Spirit, 
and exceedingly offensive to the eyes of 
infinite purity. It is a tacit acknowledge- 
ment on the part of awakened sinners, that 
they esteem the world above Christ, that 
they fear man more than God. Religion 
can never be enjoyed in this way; it seeks 
no concealment, it fears no inspection. If, 
then, you intend to secure the favor of 
God, be open, and bold, and decided upon 
this subject. Tell the world modestly, but 
with decision and firmness, that you are 
determined to become a follower of Jesus. 
The more decided you are, the sooner your 
convictions will be brought to a happy 



76 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

crisis. Disclose your feelings freely to 
your pastor, and ask his prayers and the 
prayers of such Christians as can wrestle at 
the throne of mercy. There is in such a 
course, a magnanimity becoming an immor- 
tal being. It will deepen your convictions. 
It will be like signing an obligation in the 
face of many witnesses, that religion is to 
be your first, your great concern. Going 
back will be out of the question. A host 
of powerful motives will be urging you 
forward to an unconditional surrender to 
the Saviour. The prayers of the people of 
God will be awakened in your behalf, and 
your case will be carried to the throne of 
grace with much greater fervor and impor- 
tunity. In every possible way then invite 
the influences of the divine Spirit, cherish 
his gracious operations, yield yourself to his 
holy guidance, and he will lead you to the 
Lamb of God, to the blood of sprinkling, 
which taketh away the sin of the world. 

An amiable youth was once awakened 
to the subject of religion. He wanted in- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 77 

struction, but the pride of his heart pre- 
vented him from disclosing his feelings, and 
the Spirit left him. Again and again did 
the Holy Ghost set before him his duty 
and destiny. He sighed, he prayed, but 
keeping the conflict in his own bosom, he 
quenched the heavenly influence. In this 
way for six long years he resisted the Spirit 
of God. At length this divine agent, so 
often slighted and abused, returned again, 
and as the young man verily believed, for 
the last time. His sins were set in order 
before him. He felt justly condemned. 
He knew that he had done wrong by re- 
sisting the Spirit. The conflict was long 
and severe. Submission or eternal death 
appeared to be the only alternative. Borne 
down with a sense of sin almost to despair, 
he resolved to disclose his feelings. He 
did so ; he went to his minister, and made 
known to him his troubles. At once the 
mountains vanished ; the fear of man dis- 
appeared. He soon bowed sweetly at the 
feet of Jesus, and received him joyfully as 
7* 



78 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

his Lord and his God. Urged forward by 
his love for souls, he finally entered the 
ministry and has preached for years the 
unsearchable riches of Christ. 

" Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay, 

Though I have done thee such despite, 
Cast not the sinner quite away, 
Nor take thine everlasting flight." 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY DEFERRING REPENT- 
ANCE. 



And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment 
to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time j 
when I have a convenient season I will call for thee. — Acts 24 : 25. 



The worth of the soul far exceeds all 
human computation. Its endless being, its 
capacious and noble powers, capable of such 
immense enjoyment or suffering, give it a 
value, which none but the infinite God can 
fully estimate. The salvation of this un- 
dying soul has engaged the mighty energies 
of the Holy Spirit. For this benevolent 
purpose he breaks in upon the slumbers of 
men, and wakes them up to feeling and to 
effort. Excited by his divine impulse, they 
begin to read, and meditate, and pray, and 
ask the way to Zion, and seem resolved to 
enter upon the right way. Many of this 



80 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

description, however, endure only for a 
time ; for when the cares of the world, the 
deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other 
things crowd in upon the mind, their at- 
tention is diverted from the amazing inter- 
ests of the soul. Difficulties arise, the 
way looks dark, their resolution fails, and 
like the man who set out to build a tower 
without counting the cost, they become 
discouraged, before the foundation is fairly 
laid. They appear to think that they have 
done all in their power for salvation, before 
in fact, they have done anything at all. A 
few prayers, and tears, and heartless efforts, 
are the consummation of their struggle for 
the kingdom of God. They hastily con- 
clude, that at some other time the work 
can be performed with greater ease. With 
these impressions they relax their efforts, 
and return back again to a state of stupidity. 
This course is pursued by thousands to 
their everlasting sorrow. God calls, but 
they refuse ; he entreats, but they heed it 
not. They deliberately close their ears to 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 81 

all the warnings and invitations of the gos- 
pel. Its language is, " repent and be con- 
verted," " awake to righteousness and sin 
not," "work out your own salvation with 
fear and trembling," "give diligence to 
make your calling and election sure," but 
such directions are not congenial with a 
proud and worldly spirit. They refuse to 
labor, and pray, and strive for salvation in 
obedience to the commands of God. They 
break away from the very grasp of the 
Spirit, and assume an attitude of resistance 
more repulsive and determined than before. 
And will not such conduct grieve the Holy 
Comforter ? Will his patience endure for- 
ever, his long-suffering never fail ? Will he 
come again and again to the barren fig- 
tree, and finding no fruit on it, will he 
never cut it down ? He works by means ; 
he draws by motives ; he operates upon 
the sinner's heart to make it fruitful in 
deeds of righteousness. If these kind mo- 
nitions are disregarded, and the trifles of 
an hour allowed to outweigh the undying 



82 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

pleasures of a peaceful immortality, the 
Holy Spirit is grieved, and may take his 
final departure from those, who thus slight 
and abuse his benevolent work. Felix 
grieved the Spirit by deferring repentance 
to a more convenient season, and in all pro- 
bability lost his soul. 

" Procrastination is the thief of time ; 
Year after year it steals till all are fled, 
And to the mercies of a moment, leaves 
The vast concerns of an eternal scene." 

" A man nearly eighty years old, on his 
dying bed made to his children the follow- 
ing disclosure. When just entering my 
sixteenth year, religious impressions were 
made on my mind with unusual force. I 
seemed to hear a voice continually saying 
to me, < Seek religion now.' My former 
amusements lost their relish ; still I was not 
willing to renounce them wholly, and obey 
the voice, which urged me to seek religion 
immediately. One day after much reflec- 
tion, I deliberately promised to God, that 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 83 

as soon as the season of youthful amuse- 
ments was past, I would devote myself to 
religious pursuits. My anxieties immedi- 
ately left me ; I returned to my amusements, 
and the whole subject was soon forgotten. 
When at twenty-five the monitory voice 
returned, reminded me of my promise, and 
again pressed upon me the importance of 
eternal things. Though I had not thought 
of my promise for years, I acknowledged 
its obligation, but an immediate fulfillment 
seemed more impracticable, than it did nine 
years before. I vowed with increasing 
solemnity that when the cares of a rising 
family should subside, I would certainly 
attend to the concerns of religion. Again I 
applied myself to worldly avocations, and 
soon buried all thoughts of the admonition 
I had received. At fifty, when the cares of 
my family were diminished, the heavenly 
monitor returned. c Fulfil your promise, 
seek religion now,' was continually pressing 
my mind. The subject made me unhappy, 
but after much deliberation I sought relief 



84 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

to my troubled feelings by solemnly re- 
newing my promise to God. I said, when 
the pressure of my business is past, I will 
devote my whole attention to a preparation 
for eternity. No sooner had I fixed my 
mind on this course, than my anxieties left 
me ; the strivings of the Spirit ceased in 
my bosom, and ceased forever. When 
sickness warned me of approaching death, 
I sought to fix my feelings on this subject, 
but it was in vain. I felt that I was for- 
saken of God, but it did not move me. I 
had no love to God, no repentance for sin, 
nor wish to forsake it. I felt nothing but 
the solemn gloom of despair. I knew, I was 
in the hands of a justly offended God, from 
whom I expected no mercy, and could ask 
none. With these feelings I am now about 
to enter the eternal world. To you, my 
children, I can only say, profit by my ex- 
ample — quench not the Spirit — seek reli- 
gion now — if you would avoid a miserable 
eternity, put not off the concerns of your 
soul. The sentence died upon his lips — 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 85 

he fell back upon his bed, and with a groan 
that seemed to speak the pains of another 
world, his immortal spirit took its flight to 
the presence of his final Judge, to receive at 
his hand according to the deeds done in 
the body." 

O, reader, be wise. "Be wise to-day, 
'tis madness to defer." Remember that to 
prefer deliberately a future time to the pres- 
ent, for the great business of life, is an in- 
sult offered to the Spirit attended with un- 
speakable hazard to the soul. It is to pre- 
fer your wisdom to his, and your own sup- 
posed convenience to the glory of his in- 
finite grace in making you a monument of 
God's everlasting favor. 



8 



CHAPTER X. 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY YIELDING TO THE 
ENTICEMENTS OF UNGODLY ASSOCIATES. 

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. — Prov. 1 : 10, 
Quench not the Spirit. — 1 Thess. 5:19. 

It is a melancholy fact that multitudes 
are alive to do evil, while to do good they 
have no heart. A youth is awakened to 
the subject of religion. He attends dili- 
gently upon the means of grace, and seems 
resolved to secure salvation. The more he 
reads, and meditates, and prays, and seeks 
to know the truth, the more deeply his 
mind is impressed with the momentous 
realities of another world. He is brought 
to stand upon the very threshold of the 
kingdom, and seems just ready to enter it ; 
but alas ! he is not yet out of danger. His 
former companions watch him with a 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 87 

wakeful solicitude, and spare no efforts to 
bring him back again to their deserted cir- 
cle. They attempt to soothe his fears, and 
swell his pride, and puff his vanity, and 
persuade him away from the faithful exhibi- 
tions of the gospel and the pious influence 
of praying friends. At first he hesitates, 
yields but little, and trembles for the result. 
The temptation is repeated. Again he 
yields with still less reluctance, and is 
gradually borne away amidst the scenes of 
thoughtless festivity. His attention is now 
diverted from personal religion. The Holy 
Spirit is grieved, his anxieties vanish, the 
world becomes his idol, he lives in stupidity, 
and dies without hope, as the bitter fruits 
of having grieved the Spirit of God by 
yielding to the enticements of wicked asso- 
ciates. This is but an illustration of facts, 
which crowd upon the mind of almost 
every observing Christian. Elymas, the 
sorcerer, "full of all subtilty and mischief, 
a child of the devil and an enemy of all 
righteousness," endeavored to turn away 



88 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

the deputy from the faith, and multitudes 
from that day to the present have followed 
his example. Here then, set up your Eb- 
enezer, and inscribe upon it, " My purpose 
is fixed, I am resolved to become a child of 
God." To all who would dissuade you 
from seeking first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness, reply firmly, "Your coun- 
sel is not good, for how can I do this great 
evil and sin against God ? As for me, I 
will serve the Lord." " If sinners entice 
thee, consent thou not." Grieve not the 
Holy Spirit of God by yielding to the 
persuasions of impenitent companions. 
Hearken to no proposals, yield to no en- 
treaties, submit to no persuasions to draw 
you away from the faithful exhibitions of 
the gospel. Dread the loss of divine in- 
fluence, more than you would the loss of 
property, influence, health, endeared asso- 
ciates, or even life itself. The Holy Ghost 
calls, entreats, persuades you to repent by 
motives the most weighty, the most pow- 
erful ever brought to act upon the human 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 89 

mind. If you turn away from these weighty 
motives by yielding to the enticements of 
dying men, you slight the offers of infinite 
grace, and treat the blessed Spirit with high 
disrespect. Such a course is extremely 
dangerous ; it has proved fatal to multitudes. 
■"A young man in the academy at A., a 
few years ago, in a season of revival was 
visited by the Holy Spirit, and indulged a 
iiope of pardon. He was a youth of fine 
talents and of wealth, the joy of his parents, 
who were opposers to religion. When he 
visited them, they ridiculed his seriousness, 
and he came back opposed to religious 
meetings and to all serious things. He was 
conversed with, and exhorted not to resist 
the Holy Ghost, and harden his heart, lest 
he should lose his soul. All religious du- 
ties soon became irksome to him, and he 
left for another school, where such restraints 
were not imposed. It was not long before 
he and one of his gay companions hired a 
carriage with two horses, and a driver, and 
set out to attend a ball in a neighboring 
8* 



90 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

town. Having proceeded a short distance, 
his head was seen by his companion to 
drop. The latter called to the driver to 
stop. The unhappy youth in an imperious 
tone said to the driver, i Drive the horses 
to hell as quick as possible.' He never 
spoke again, and in a few moments was in 
the presence of his final Judge! " 

" Delay not, delay not ; the Spirit of grace, 

Long grieved and resisted, may take its sad flight, 
And leave thee in darkness to finish thy race, 
To sink in the vale of eternity's night." 



CHAPTER XL 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY A REFUSAL ON THE 

PART OF AWAKENED SINNERS TO ATTEND 

MEETINGS OF RELIGIOUS INQUIRY. 

Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my 
hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my coun- 
sel, and would none of my reproof ; I also will laugh at your calam- 
ity j I will mock when your fear cometh. — Prov. 1 : 24 — 26. 

Among the most important means of grace 
at the present day, are seasons for personal 
conversation upon the subject of religion. 
God has put upon them, in a peculiar man- 
ner, the seal of his approbation. They 
have often been the favored moments when 
the soul has decided for a glorious immor- 
tality. 

" Silence was there, and with itself each soul 
Solemn communion held ; the Holy Ghost 
Was there, and whispered to each sin-sick soul, 
This is the way ; why wilt thou strive with God ? 
Repent, repent; now is the accepted time, 
The day in which salvation may be thine.' 



92 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

In such a place, and at such a time, all is 
still, solemn, impressive. The world re- 
cedes, eternity opens, and every soul may 
commune with God, may bow to Christ. 
The Holy Ghost hovers around the scene, 
and makes it sacred with the manifestations 
of his grace and glory. The prayers, the 
addresses, the conversation, the stillness, 
the solemnity, all tend to point the sinner 
to the Lamb of God. There is perhaps no 
place on earth more completely adapted to 
bring a convicted mind to an unconditional 
surrender to the Saviour. Peter, and the 
rest of the apostles, on the day of Pentecost, 
held an inquiry meeting of great interest, 
which three thousand attended, and all of 
them submitted to Christ on the spot, and 
became the hopeful subjects of regenerating 
grace. Paul and Silas held an inquiry 
meeting in the house of their prison, which 
the jailor and perhaps some of his family 
attended ; and he at least believed in Christ 
to the saving of his soul. Philip, the evan- 
gelist, held an inquiry meeting in the eu- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 93 

nuch's chariot, at which time the sable 
Ethiopian, by an act of faith, received Jesus 
as his atoning Saviour, and went on his 
way rejoicing. At a crowded meeting for 
inquiry, in a pastor's house, the Holy Ghost 
filled the place, and while the impressions 
of all were deepened, one man arose, and 
exclaimed with emotion, " Oh, I have found, 
I have found my Saviour." He has held 
on his way, and now, venerable for age and 
for piety, is just ready to enter his everlast- 
ing home in the skies. At the examination 
of sixty individuals, who were admitted to 
the church at the same time, after a revival 
of great purity and power, it was found 
that, in nearly every case, attending the in- 
quiry meeting gave a turn to their feelings, 
which under God resulted in those religious 
hopes upon which they ventured to make 
a public profession of their faith in Jesus. 
And shall pride, or the fear of man, keep 
you away from such scenes of heavenly vis- 
itation ? Will you refuse to go where God 
unveils his glory, where Christ displays his 



94 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

love, where the Spirit breathes upon the 
soul a vitality which can never be extin- 
guished? This would stifle conviction, 
would grieve the Spirit, and might ruin the 
soul forever. A lady under conviction, in 
a revival of religion, was invited to take her 
place among the inquirers. She refused to 
do it, though her conscience at the time told 
her it was her duty. I saw her afterward, 
and she assured me, with sadness of heart, 
that at that time, and by that act, she 
grieved the Spirit, and feared that he had 
taken of her his final leave. 

During a powerful work of grace in A. y 
many awakened sinners were seen in the 
inquiry room, asking the way to Zion. 
Two men, it is said, walking slowly up to 
the door, stopped, and, with an evident 
conflict within, seemed to deliberate. At 
length, one of them, crushing his pride, and 
rising above the fear of man, entered the 
room, and soon hopefully embraced the Sa- 
viour. The other lingered awhile, turned 
about, and walked slowly away. The 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 95 

Holy Spirit, grieved by his resistance, with- 
drew his influence, and he returned back 
again to a state of stupidity. 

If at any time you have the least inclina- 
tion to ask the way to Zion, gratify it, cher- 
ish it. Go to the Bible, to the mercy-seat, 
and to the place where others meet to ask 
the way, and disclose your feelings freely 
to those who are set to watch for souls, and 
are able to guide them in the way of life. 
If pride and the fear of man would keep 
you back, go the more on this account, and 
crush them both with a single blow. They 
must die, or you are ruined. Bid the world 
stay behind, while you make a covenant 
with the King of kings. Go with a broken 
heart, repenting of the past, seeking guid- 
ance for the future, and with a fixed deter- 
mination to yield yourself a willing sacrifice 
to God. When at the meeting, if not en- 
gaged in conversation, lift up your soul to 
God in silent, fervent prayer, for the sub- 
duing influence of his grace. Penetrated 
with a sense of sin, look up to Christ as 



96 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

your only refuge, and rest on him as the 
chief corner-stone of your salvation. Pur- 
suing this course, you may expect to find a 
pardoning God, a smiling Saviour, a quick- 
ening Spirit, a peaceful conscience, a hope 
full of immortality, and at last a crown of 
life which fadeth not away. Quench not 
the Spirit, then, by refusing to do what 
conscience bids you, what the Bible ap- 
proves, and what the providence of God 
clearly points out to be your duty. If you 
are ashamed of Christ, he will be ashamed 
of you ; if you reject his offered grace here, 
he will cast you off in that final day, when 
he shall number up his jewels. 

" Hasten, sinner, to be wise 

And stay not for the morrow's sun, 
The longer wisdom you despise, 
The harder is she to be won." 



CHAPTER XIL 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED BY AWAKENED SINNERS, 
WHEN THEY ARE CONVINCED THAT IMMEDIATE 
SUBMISSION TO GOD IS THEIR INDISPENSABLE 
DUTY, BUT STILL NEGLECT TO DO IT. 

Yield yourselves unto God.— Rom. 6 : 13. 

Immediate submission to God is the in- 
dispensable duty of every sinner, and no 
one can offer any satisfactory reason why 
he does not do it. It often occurs that 
awakened sinners manifest no intention to 
defer submission ; they seem to be aware 
that delay is attended with infinite hazard, 
and sometimes express a willingness, and 
even a strong desire, to submit to Christ ; 
but still the work is not done. Whether 
in such cases the particular obstruction can 
be discovered or not, sin is always the 
guilty cause, — it is their own, — and while 
they refuse to relinquish it, they grieve the 

9 



98 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost points out 
to them the way of life, but they refuse to 
walk in it ; — this is resistance. He makes 
their duty clear as daylight, simple as the 
very elements of language, but they refuse 
to do it ; — this is resistance. He presents 
to their minds the most powerful motives 
as inducements to an immediate surrender 
of their hearts to God, but they refuse to 
yield to these motives ; — this is resistance. 
Sinners often suppose that they are entirely 
willing to submit to Christ, while at the 
same time they are withstanding the offers 
of his grace with a giant's energies. Con- 
science and the Spirit of God urge them 
mightily to give up the contest, and bow 
to Jesus, but their stubborn wills rebel. 
This is the grand cause of all that distress, 
and anguish, and depression of spirit, which 
sometimes weigh down the soul to the very 
borders of despair. Let them cease from 
resisting, and all will be peace; yield to 
Christ, and all will be quiet. Those who 
are convinced that this is their immediate 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 99 

duty, and still neglect to do it, grieve the 
Spirit of grace, and hazard their everlasting 
all. There should be no hesitating, no lin- 
gering in this grand concern. The mighty 
work should be done now, can be done now 
with divine assistance, and if neglected 
now, may not be done at all. To-morrow 
with you may be eternity ; before to-mor- 
row, divine forbearance may be exhausted, 
and the measure of iniquity full. 

A young lady was once awakened by the 
Holy Spirit, and brought to contemplate 
seriously her interests for eternity. She 
saw herself justly condemned as a trans- 
gressor of the divine law, and knew that 
she ought to flee to Christ as her only re- 
fuge. Conscience, together with the word 
and Spirit of God, urged her to repent 
immediately, and submit cheerfully to the 
authority of Jesus. She was brought ap- 
parently to stand upon the very threshold 
of God's spiritual kingdom, and seemed just 
ready to enter. The Spirit called, and 
urged, and pressed upon her his claims ; 



100 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

but still the work was not done. At length 
the blessed Comforter was grieved, and 
withdrew his influence ; she went back to 
the world, became a thoughtless, trifling 
sinner, and could sport upon the very brink 
of eternal burnings. 

One day, while conversing with a family 
in the discharge of my parochial duties, a 
messenger entered the room in haste, and 
requested me to go to a neighboring house, 
to pray with a young woman who was ap- 
parently dying. I did so ; and on entering 
the room, witnessed a scene, which, while 
reason remains, I can never forget, and 
which I have no power adequately to de- 
scribe. The young lady just mentioned 
was there, prostrated upon a bed of lan- 
guishment, and to all human appearance 
was soon to enter upon the retributions of 
another world. Her affrighted looks, her 
agitated frame, and piteous cries, " O, I 
cannot die, I cannot die," were enough to 
make us all feel how fearful it is for a sin- 
ner to fall unpardoned into the hands of the 



THE KOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 101 

living God. I approached the bed, and at- 
tempted to point her to Jesus, the sinner's 
friend ; but to no purpose. A cloud cover- 
ed her mind, and an agony of distress filled 
her agitated bosom. The Spirit had de- 
parted ; an insulted Saviour kept at a dis- 
tance. She wanted to flee from death and 
an avenging Judge, but could do neither. 
O, to drink the wrath of God, to feel the 
gnawings of the worm that never dies, and 
to enter the fire that never shall go out, 
were overwhelming to her despairing soul. 
I prayed with her, but she found no peace ; 
and I was obliged to leave her, without 
having been able to dart one ray of light 
through that oppressive gloom which then 
hung so heavily upon her sinking spirit. 

O, reader, if you are yet impenitent, 
let me entreat you, by all that is precious 
in the love of Christ, by all that, is cheering 
in the hopes of the gospel, by all that is 
comforting in the presence of Jesus at a 
dying hour, by all that is glorious in 
heaven, and fearful in hell, not to grieve 
9* 



102 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

the Holy Spirit, whereby you are sealed to 
the day of redemption. But do you ask, 
"What shall I do?" Do? Submit to 
Christ. " But how shall I do it ? " Feel 
as Christ requires, and do as he says. Re- 
pent, believe, love and obey God with all 
your heart. This is religion — practical 
religion. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

1. Those who resist the Holy Ghost, 
incur great guilt. Guilt is increased in pro- 
portion to light and privileges slighted and 
abused. A sinner awakened by the Holy 
Spirit has clearer views of himself, of sin, 
of God, of Christ, of duty, of revelation, and 
of all the fundamental truths of the gospel. 
He sees, he hears, he reads and reflects, 
with feelings and impressions altogether 
new. He is urged to immediate repent- 
ance, by weighty and imperative considera- 
tions, which he never felt before. The 
admonitions of conscience, the calls of the 
Spirit, the warnings of providence, the 
threatenings of revelation, the invitations 
of the gospel, the instructions of ministers, 
the entreaties of friends^ the solemnities of 



104 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

death, the disclosures of judgment the 
retributions of eternity, — all, like a cloud 
of living witnesses, call upon him to repent 
and live, with a voice loud and impressive 
enough almost to make the dead awake, and 
to put speaking tongues and praying hearts 
into the very ashes of the tomb. And can 
this amount of evidence, this array of mo- 
tives, this combined testimony of witnesses 
from heaven, earth, and hell, be rejected 
without enhancing our guilt ? But what 
saith the Scriptures? " He that despised 
Moses' law, died without mercy under two 
or three witnesses : of how much sorer 
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought 
worthy, who hath trodden under foot the 
Son of God, and hath counted the blood of 
the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, 
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto 
the Spirit of grace ? " Guilt, amazing guilt, 
is incurred by resisting the Holy Ghost ; 
and yet, how often is it looked upon as a 
mere trifle ? how many have done it, and 
are still doing it, without any adequate con- 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 105 

ception of the wrong done to their own 
souls, or the dishonor reflected upon the 
God of truth ! And why, impenitent reader, 
will you pursue a course so completely at 
variance with reason and revelation, so 
utterly hostile to your present and future 
peace ? Why resist the Spirit of God, till 
divine forbearance is exhausted, and the 
measure of iniquity full ? 

2. Those who resist the Holy Spirit are 
in imminent peril. As in human affairs, so 
in religion : 

" There is a tide, 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of life 
Is bound with shallows and with miseries." 

A man upon a wreck, driven by the an- 
gry waves, is in imminent peril ; but his 
case becomes hopeless, indeed, when in this 
condition he rejects the kind hand which 
comes to his rescue. It is dangerous beyond 
expression for sinners to resist the Holy 
Ghost ; that benevolent agent who comes in 



106 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

mercy to save them, condemned as they are 
by the divine law, and liable every moment 
to be dashed upon the billows of eternal 
death. No one knows but the present is 
his last call, and if this be misimproved, his 
sun of mercy may set, to rise no more for- 
ever. There is a time when God will hear, 
when the sinner may be reconciled to his 
heavenly king. " Come, now, and let us 
reason together, saith the Lcrd ; though 
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like 
crimson, they shall be as wool." " Behold, 
now is the accepted time ; now is the day 
of salvation." 

There is a time when God will not hear. 
" Ephraim is joined to his idols ; let him 
alone." " Though ye make many prayers, 
I will not hear." " Then shall they call 
upon me, but I will not answer." O, it is 
a fearful thing for poor, dependent, helpless 
sinners, to reject the offers of unmerited 
grace, and grieve the Spirit of God. By 
one fatal act, ypu may blot out the last star 



THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 107 

of hope which now glimmers in your spir- 
itual horizon, and be left to grope your 
dreary way downward, unpardoned, to the 
regions of everlasting despair. " Be wise, 
now, and remember this, O ye that forget 
God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there 
be none to deliver." 

" Return, wanderer, return, 

Thy Saviour bids thy spirit live ; 
Go to his bleeding feet and learn 
How freely Jesus can forgive." 

And now, beloved reader, this solemn 
and momentous subject I must leave with 
you. To your care is committed a price- 
less soul. Its salvation is placed within 
your reach. The Holy Ghost is given, to 
subdue and control its capacious and grow- 
ing powers, and fit them for the joys and 
glories of an eternal heaven. These joys, 
these endless glories, will be yours or not, 
as you receive or reject the blessed Spirit. 
May the considerations presented in this 
little book, be so impressed upon your mind 



108 THE HOLY SPIRIT RESISTED. 

by a God of love, that when your earthly 
house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved; 
you may have a building of God, a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 
ens, and go to dwell forever with the 
Lord. 




FBESS OF T. B. MARVIN. 



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